Tuesday, May 29, 2007

To those Converts - my religion

Socialism and secularism in India have done enough damage for the people to loose their spine. I learnt about the mass conversion to Buddhism. It really pains me. One of the converts was on record saying "Jainism was another option, but its rigidity is hard to practise". Dah!

Then, we have guys like Sriram, who wants to be called Thiru Ram for he feels Sri is a North Indian word. One of my friends suggested "Thiru Dan" because Ram is also a North Indian name. Therefore ThiruRam isn't appropriate. I couldn't stop laughing.

Self-respect cannot be obtained externally. It is how you value yourself. You become a Buddhist, Jain, Christian, Muslim or remain a Hindu, nothing will change for you. Buddha's teaching is surely one way to reach the Ultimate Truth. But to enter into religious escapade to escape social discrimination is a grave mistake. So is to sell religion as a commodity.

Ekam sat vipraha bahudha vadanti

Truth is unique. Learned people call it different names.

Hinduism is not the name of our religion. It was a name given by foreigners to the people who lived around the Indus - whose religious and philosophical derivations came from the Vedas. According to the Kanchi Paramacharya, His Holiness Jagadguru Sri Chandrasekara Saraswati Swamigal, our religion has no name. His point was that only if there existed an alternative, you require a name to differentiate. However, the different derivations of the age-old Vedas, encompass all the philosophies known to the world. Just like many stream leading to a river, many paths can lead to God.

To think of God as a human-being is imagination. Tell that to the king of the forest, he will roar in rage. Tell that to a bird, and it will immediately point out that "no way God can't fly". It is required to imagine God. However, it is foolish to cling to the imagination like most Hindus do. To dismiss the image worship, like Buddha and Prophet Mohammad did, shows their spiritual status. But to preach it to ordinary people is highly irresponsible. It is like skipping a few steps in the spiritual ladder. The chances of you tripping and falling down is more than being able to directly climb to the top of the ladder. Foundation is important and image worship serves as a strong basis for the spiritual journey that every man undertakes.

12 comments:

maheshbalaji said...

whoa! loaded!

and anna i remember u telling me that some of my writings are extreme!

not that i am saying this is extreme.. but dfntly this is loaded! thirumba padichuttu daan seriya comment panna mudiyum.

illa.. idukku naa enna comment pannuvenne therila!

APAM NAPAT said...

i haven't spoken against any group. What is controversial here?

Ajay said...

//ThiruRam// LOL..
reminds me of a s.ve. sekar joke..
one of the reasons for the conversion was "apathy of the Government towards the basic needs of these people"
i can't see how belonging to buddhism wud give them what they need..in fact i can't see how belonging to one particular religion gives you peace or harmony..

APAM NAPAT said...

yeah. social justice is the responsibility of the central government that claims to embrace equality, secularism and socialism. Neither should a religion be allowed to overpower the people nor should a religion be allowed to convert people enmasse. Both are against secular governance.

D LordLabak said...

Very profound indeed.

vishy said...

I think most conversions in India are just to get the fringe benefits. I have seen many people being lured into this by offering them money, cloths etc... and this is prevalent among the poor.

APAM NAPAT said...

vishy,
correctaa sonna.

Anonymous said...

Funny thing about this particular incident is that some consider Buddha as an avatar - so in that sense these folks went nowhere :)

however, another interesting aspect is how these get reported - http://rajeev2004.blogspot.com/2007/05/rotfl-who-says-indian-media-isnt-biased.html

APAM NAPAT said...

i guess this very rajeev srinivasan is a part of the Indian media. I have read some of his ridiculously off-the-mark articles.

I said...

indha maari mokka joke ku ellam sirichu build-up kudukara..

btw we shd co-author a post.

APAM NAPAT said...

i,
machi un rangeaa vera. naanum neeyum ennatha pathi ezhudardhu.

I said...

tambrahm post dhan vera enna?>